Improvement in breech-loading fire-arms



H. W.. ADAMS.

Breech-Loading Fire-Arm.

Patented Sept. 19, 1854,

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INVENTOR WITNESSES To all whmn it nuty concern/2 'tudinal sectionsthrough the center of the view of the chamber of the barrel detached thebore, to allow the charge to be introduced UNTTnn STATES PATENT @rrren.

HENRY XV. ADAMS, OF NEXV YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 115,685., datedSeptember 19, 1854.

Be it known that I, HENRY XV. Annals, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improve ments in Breech-L0ading Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which-Figure 1 is a side view of a rifle constructed according to myinvention. Fig. 2 is a top view of the same. Figs. 3 and a arelongichamber and breech of the same, showing different positions of thebreech-roller. Fig. 5 is a transverse section through the center of thebreech-roller. Fig. 6 is a section in the plane indicated by the redline no 3 in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a back view of'the breeclrroller detachedfrom the rifle. Fig. 8 is an outside from the rifle. Fig. 9 is anoutside view of a short tube which fits to the back of the breechroller.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

This invention relates to that description of breech-loading fire-armsin which the breech is composed of a roller which when in one positioncloses the rear end of the chamber and in another position forms acontinuation of through it into the chamber. This form of breech, I amaware, is not of itself new; but when heretofore employed, the firing ofthe charge has been performed by the breech shearing through fulminatingcompound attached to the cartridge, which I consider a dangerousarrangement, or else by some other objectionable means.

The first part of my invention consists in attaching the commongun-nipple to one end of the above-described roller and making a vent orpriming hole extending therefrom to the surface of the solid part of theroller, which covers and closes the end of the barrel, so as to conveyfire from the nipple to the center of the powder in the barrel.

In first applying the breech roller above mentioned, it was made to fitclosely in every part of the seat or bearing which receives it,

and after the piece had been discharged a very few times it was foundimpossible to turn the roller, owing to the fire having worked its waybetween the roller and seat and the gas condensed. The seat was thenenlarged, to leave a space about one-sixteenth of an inch wide aroundthe roller, giving the latter a bearing only on a small surfacesurrounding the end of the barrel, which was made to project a sixteenthof an inch into the seat, thus, by reducing the surface of contact, toreduce the amount of adhesion and friction of the surfaces.

This invention therefore consists, secondly,

in forming a cavity within the seat all around the roller, and onlyleaving bearings at the ends of the roller and around the projecting endof the barrel, so as to reduce the friction in the greatest possibledegree and prevent the roller from sticking tight in the chamber by thepacking around it of the condensed gas or unconsumed part of the powder.

The invention consists, thirdly, in fitting the opening which ismade atthe back of the breechroller seat in line with the barrel with a tubewhich projects into the cavity before spoken of around the roller, andfits closely up to the roller, and prevents any backward escape of fireor gas, and consequent injury to the face or other part of the personfiring.

The invention consists, fourthly, in a certain method of constructingthe chamber of the barrel,whereby any wear of the end which fits up tothe breech-roller can be readily rectified.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the wooden stock of the rifle, to which is secured thebreeclrsupporter B O, which consists of a stout tube, B, which receivesthe rear end of the barrel and the chamber, and a transverse cylindricalor conical seat, 0, which receives the breech-roller I). Thebreech-roller D is bored transversely to its axis, to thesame size asthe rear of the chamber, and the rear part, a, of the tube B, behind theseat of the breech-roller, is bored to thesame size as the roller, inorder that when the bore in the roller is brought into line with thebore of the barrel, as represented in Fig. 3, the charge may be passeddirectly through the rear end of the tube and through the roller intothe chamber,where it willbe shut in by the change 1 into the front tube,B, so as to be incapable of the position of the roller to that shown inFig. 4, which is at right angles to the line of the bore of the barrel.

The breech-supporter may be made of malleable cast-iron or gun metal,east all in one piece entirely solid, or of wrought iron or steel. Thetube B and the seat 0 are bored in such a way that their axes intersecteach other exactly at right angles. The seat G is first bored from theright-hand side to a proper size to receive the breech-roller tightly;but the same-size bore is not carried through, as a portion at theleft-hand side requires to be smaller to form a bearing for the journalbof the roller. The tube B and the breech-roller D are both bored at thesame time to the required size of the bore in the seat, the roller beingdriven tightly into the seat for the purpose. After the tube B and theroller D have been bored to that size,the roller is taken out. The partof the tube in front of the seat C is bored to a proper size to receivethe detachedchamber E, and a female screw is cut in the front to receivea male screw on the end of the barrel; and that part a of thebreecl1-supporter in rear of the seat 0 is bored for a short distanceto, receive a short steel tube, F. The interior of the seat 0 isafterward bored out from c to 0 (see Fig. 5) to a larger size than theroller, and a collar, G, which serves as a bearing for the journal b, isfitted tightly into the end. The roller D is turned down at the end nextthe journal I), so as to leave a very small bearing-face to come incontact with the end of the seat, and the collar G-is turned off on itsinner side to leave a very small face to come in contact with the end ofthe roller. Thus a spacefs s, is left within the seat all round and atthe ends of the roller, as shown in Fig. 5, and from the space there aretwo holes, 0 0, passing through the top of the seat, for the escape ofany fire or gas that may escape back from the chamber. The roller isconfined to its place in the seat by means of a pin, (Z, which passesthrough one side of the collar G and the seat and holds the collar toits place, and it is further confined by a stud, e, which stands upwithin the bearing of the journal b, (see Fig. 6,) and enters a slot, f,in the journal, which extends far enough round to allow the roller thenecessary amount of motion in the operation of loading the piece. Theslot f turns at one end, toward the end of the j ournal, as shown inFig. 7 in order to allow the roller to be put in and removed from itsplace.

The steel tube F, which fits into the back part of the breech-supporter,is bored out to the same size as the bore in the breech-roller, and isturned on the outside true with its bore, to drive tightly into itsplace behind the seat 0, being inserted from the front. The chamber E ismade of steel, bored in front to about the same size as the barrel, andenlarged conically toward the rear end, where it is of the same size asthe bore in the breech-roller. It is turned outside in a lathe, to drivetightly of turning therein, and the barrel. H, which is screwed firmlyinto the front of the breechsupporter, fits up closely to it. X Vhen thetube F and the chamber E are driven into their. places, there should bea considerable portion of each extending into the interior of the seat0, in order that, by a proper cutter attached to a boring-bar running infalse journals screwed onto each side of the breech-sup porter, they maybe 'cut off to fit tightly to the periphery of the breeclrroller, whichshould be ground into its place with emery or some substance of similarcharacter, and therefore is made with a very slight taper. The top ofthe back part, a, of the breech-supporter is cut away for convenientlyinserting the charge.

The breech-roller is made of a solid piece of steel. Its journal I)protrudes far enough through the collar G to receive the nipple g, andto carry a lever, I, by which it is turned in its seat. The vent passesfrom the nipple in an oblique direction,so as to enter the chamberexactly in the center. TheleverI is made strong, but is capable ofspringing slightly in a lateral direction, in order to allow a stud,h,(see Figs. 1 and 2,) on its inner face to enter a notch in the backplate'and hold the roller in the position shown in Fig. lto close thechamber. The roller, in moving from the position shown in Fig. l, whichcloses the chamber, to the position shown in Fig. 3,which opens it toinsert the charge, or vice versa, makes about onefourth part ofarevolution. The proper movement is controlled by a stop-piece, 1', onthe collar Gr,with which the nipple comes in contact when the lever ismoved down to open the chamber, and by the stud e, which arrives at oneend of the slot f when the chamber is closed, and prevents it movingfarther. 'The removal of the roller from or its insertion ,within itsseat is effected by withdrawing the pin d, taking out the collar G, andbringing the open endj of the slot in the journal I) opposite the stud6. This position of the slot obtains when the bore of the roller is inline with the barrel.

In order to allow the barrel to be screwed farther into thebreech-supporter,to tighten the fit between the back end of the chamberand the breech-roller, one of the sights, l, is cut in the top of thebreech-supporter, and the other, an, is placed on one of the metal bandswhich confines the barrel to the stock. It is obvious that if the sightswere attached to the barrel it could not be allowed to turn.

I will here remark that I am aware of a roller having been previously soapplied as to form the breech of a gun; but in all such previousapplications known to me the roller was only bored partly through, andits bore constituted the chamber of the gun and received the charge atits front part, which was turned upward for the purpose opposite a holein the topof the seat, and when charged was placed in line with thebarrel. The roller thus applied eonstituted, strictly speaking, a rotaryor rolling chamber; but the roller applied as represented, andhereinbefore described, is a movable breech, serving only to open andclose a fixed chamber in which the charge is contained.

, What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is

1. Though I do not claim the breech-roller having apass'age through it,so that when placed in one position in the chamber which receives it itwill form a prolongation of the bore, and when placed in anotherposition will close the rear end of the bore, I claim the combination,with the said roller, of the common gun-nipple, said nipple beinginserted at one end of the said roller, which projects outwardly fromthe said chamber, and communicating with a vent bored to the surface ofthe central solid part of the said roller which covers the end of thebarrel, so as to convey fire from the nipple to the center of the chargein front of the roller, substantially as herein set forth.

2. Though I do not claim the employment of a groove or grooves, as madein the charge holder of Alonzo D. Perry, I do claim forming a cavity orspace, 5 8, within the chamber which contains thebreech-roller,when thesaid cavity extends all round the said roller, and so nearly from end toend thereof as to leave only sufficient hearing at the ends to keep thesaid roller in proper place, and is for the purpose of reducing thefriction of the roller and for the prevention of its sticking tight inthe chamber, as herein set forth.

3. Fitting the opening in the rear part, a,of

the breech-supporter with a tube, F,which enters the space 8 s betweenthe breech-roller and its seat, and fits closely up to the roller,serving the double purpose of giving the roller a bearing opposite towhere the force of the eX- HENRY IV. ADAMS.

Vitnesses:

J. XV. HAMILTON, J. IV. OooMBs.

